All Flag Bills Die; House Speaker on State Flag: 'I have not wavered'

House Speaker Philip Gunn released a statement defending his position on the state flag, after all filed bills to change the state flag referred to the House Rules Committee died today. No Senate or House flag bill made it out of committee by today's deadline.

Gunn's statement is below, verbatim:

"For anyone to suggest I have surrendered or backed up on my position of changing the flag is simply not true," said Speaker of the House Philip Gunn. "I have not wavered in my viewpoint that we need a different flag to represent Mississippi. I have spoken with many House members both individually and collectively and have tried to convince them to adopt my view."

“I have explored every option from taking legislative action to change the flag to adopting two official flags, but we cannot get a consensus on how to address the issue,” he continued. "I will continue to stand by my view that changing the flag is the right thing to do. The flag is going to change. We can deal with it now or leave for future generations to address. I believe our state needs to address it now. I am disappointed that nothing took shape this year, but I will continue this effort."